Chapter 3
— —the breaking point
The crisis arrived gently—but powerfully.
On a quiet Thursday evening, as rain touched their windows again like the day they first met, Aiden said the truth out loud:
"I miss us. I miss loving you without fear. I miss the version of me who knew how to show it."
Lina's chest tightened. "I feel invisible next to you. I want to fight for us, but sometimes I don't even know if you still see me."
They talked for hours—voices breaking, hands shaking.
They weren't angry.
They were hurting.
They remembered their first dates, their first vacation by the sea, the way they used to write poems for each other.
They realized how love had slowly been replaced by responsibility—two hearts working like machines.
There was no screaming, no dramatic ending—just two people facing the painful truth that love needs care, not assumptions.